Ottoman sultan was reputed to have offered land to Sudanese laborers

Evidence

Sa´id says he has even heard that the Ottoman sultan offered such a gesture to the Sudanese, from whose agricultural effort the empire profited. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 684

Categorization

• QUESTION: Was the Ottoman sultan’s alleged land offer real, or an invention placed in the dialogue to make the radical-sounding demand seem respectable?